


Arson AU

by BuckleUpCreampuffs



Category: Haunted or Hoax (Web Series)
Genre: ARSON AU, F/F, angsty af
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 17:32:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8455528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckleUpCreampuffs/pseuds/BuckleUpCreampuffs
Summary: The arson AU you've been waiting for for waaaay longer than I thought you would be. Sorry.Ellia Grantham and her girlfriend Elizabeth were killed in a tragic accident after a misunderstanding back in 1902. Ever since that night Ellia has haunted her family's home, wishing Elizabeth would come back. She invited amateur ghost hunters Jac and Casey to film their ghost hunting show at her house in the hopes that they might find Elizabeth. But Elizabeth doesn't seem to like strangers.





	

Ellia felt a pair of hands go over her eyes. She froze.

She heard a light chuckle “it’s only me, love.” Ellia felt her shoulders relax and tilted her head back to meet a pair of warm brown eyes. Without looking away, she placed her charcoal on the arm of the bench and closed her sketch book. “What’s this?” her visitor asked, bending slightly in a vain attempt to see her latest work.

“It’s a sketch book, Elizabeth.” Ellia teased, failing to keep the smile off her face when her visitor frowned at her. She sighed. “I would tell you more about it, but I don’t quite know what I’m drawing yet.”

Elizabeth nodded and took a seat on the other side of the bench. Ellia automatically rested her head on Elizabeth’s shoulder. She let her eyes drift closed and suddenly it was just the two of them. The sound of Elizabeth’s contented breathing and the smell of her perfume and the feeling of Elizabeth’s arm as it snaked around her shoulders was all that she could sense in their little bubble of time.

And then it was shattered.

“So what’s this?” Elizabeth asked and Ellia felt a tug on her skirt. She opened her eyes and glanced down at the pale pink dress her mother had insisted she wear with distaste. She looked at Elizabeth, and Ellia could tell that she already knew the answer.

Ellia buried her face into the other woman’s shoulder. “This one is called Edward.”

“I would have thought you drove them all away by now.” Elizabeth laughed.

Ellia chuckled. “I had hoped so. But mother and father are insisting I marry. For business. Marriage is not based on love. It is a contract sealed with life.” Ellia mocked in an imitation of her father.

“I’m sorry, Ell.” Elizabeth ran a hand through Ellia’s hair in a way she hoped was comforting. She turned and placed a kiss on the crown of Ellia’s head, hating the way Ellia tensed up when she did. She wanted to gently remind the younger girl that in their secluded spot protected by leaves and branches on the Grantham grounds there were no witnesses but the girl was more skittish than her horse.

“How is Richard?” Ellia asked, slightly muffled.

Elizabeth frowned at the mention of her husband of a month. “Distant as always. There’s a promotion becoming available at the bank so we hardly talk, but he insists on spending time together when he can. It makes me feel guilty. My thoughts are always with you.” She felt Ellia shift against her. “I would rather not talk about him. We have so little time together, Ellia.”

Ellia shifted again, looking up at her through dark lashes. “Is there something you would rather do, love?” Elizabeth felt her breath leave her body at the look. She leant in as Ellia did, eyes fluttering closed.

“Eleanor!”

Both women sighed. Elizabeth gently rested her forehead against Ellia’s. “You had better go. Remember the last time? I thought the woman was going to burn the garden down searching for you.”

“And sacrifice the roses? Never.” Ellia grinned. “Coming, mother!” Surging forward, she pecked Elizabeth’s lips. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Elizabeth grinned. With the arm still around the dark haired girl’s shoulders she pulled Ellia to her and kissed her soundly. “I love you, Ellia.”

“And I love you.” Ellia smiled even as her cheeks began to heat up, and Elizabeth thought the sight would make her heart stop. She stood, hidden by the curtain of leaves that surrounded their hide away as she watched Ellia retreat to the house. Elizabeth saw Ellia’s frowning mother standing on the step with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her aged face and for a moment Elizabeth was reminded of a painting she had once seen of Cerberus guarding the gates to Hades. Feeling wet heat trailing down her face, she hastily wiped at her eyes before heading over to the cold iron gates that surrounded the Grantham property and climbed up, landing with the grace earned by someone who had been doing the exact same thing for years.

 

“Awesome!” Casey cheered as a knock sounded at the door. She disappeared from the living room while Ellia reapplied her lip gloss. As she was closing the tube Casey reappeared with a box in her arms.

“So you’re getting packages delivered here now?” Casey just nodded and set to work opening it and digging through layers of packing tape, cardboard and Styrofoam. Ellia rolled her eyes. “You know that’s all over my floor?”

Casey shrugged. “You don’t live here 24/7.”

“No but I would still like it to be in good condition.” Ellia explained.

Casey sighed. “Look, if it really means that much to you then I’ll get around to it. For now…” Triumphantly, she pulled what looked like a rejected Ghostbusters gun from the box. “I saw it on an infomercial. It detects abnormal heat signatures that will help us find your ghost.”

Ellia blinked and took a deep breath as she processed what Casey just said. “That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Casey scowled at her and flipped a few switches on the side and lights flickered on “Firstly, you’re banking on ghosts having abnormal heat signatures even though as far as you know you’ve never met a ghost.” Casey flipped another switch and the lights started spinning. “Second, that looks like something little kids spend all of their allowance on when they’re on vacation that breaks a week later.” Casey continued to ignore Ellia as the device began to beep. “Third, you saw it on an infomercial which aren’t exactly known for the quality for money.” Casey began walking around the room staring at a screen the size of a credit card that bathed her face in a faint green light. “Fourth, it sounds like a heart rate monitor. If you’re looking for ghosts a heart rate monitor is the most ridiculous thing you could possibly use.”

As she said it Casey walked past her and the beeps sped up. “Not useful, huh?” Casey carried on into the hall, frowning as the beeps got more gradual. Turning on her heel, she headed back towards Ellia and the noise became more rapid and high pitched. She continued past Ellia into the kitchen and the beeps began to turn normal before getting even slower than they started.

“Nice one Peter Venkman. You successfully detected human life and the refrigerator.” Ellia mocked, rolling her eyes for what felt like the tenth time since this conversation started. “The heart rate monitor was a great idea.”

Casey scoffed. “Oh, shut up.”

“I’m actually looking for someone with a good singing voice. Do you think I should use an IQ test to audition them or a CAT scan?”

“Huh.”

“Huh? What is huh?” Ellia snapped.

Casey frowned. “These are the readings for me.” She flipped the screen on a little metal arm to show Ellia. There was a bright green blur that she assumed was Casey surrounded by a darker green. “This is for the space by the freezer.” She pressed a button and the green turned blue. “And these are the readings for you.” She pressed a third button and the blur was now a dark red.

“Wow… so this really is a piece of crap.” Ellia turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, heading for the front door. Casey followed, quickly getting in step and looking Ellia up and down. Cautiously she reached out and place a hand on Ellia’s forehead. “Hey! Haven’t you ever heard of personal space?”

“Wow! You’re hot!” Casey winced, tearing her hand back as if she was burned.

Ellia raised an eyebrow “are you hitting on me because you really need to work on your pick up lines.”

“No. You’re just really hot.” Casey muttered.

Ellia frowned. “Hey, can I please leave?” She tried to get to the front door but Casey stepped in front of her, blocking the path.

“Why are you so hot?”

“Why are you so weird?”

“Why are you being so evasive?”

“Why are you being so invasive?”

Ellia attempted to shove past Casey. She wanted out of this conversation, out of this house, out of Casey and Jac’s lives before she had to choose between cathartic screaming in the yard and a complete breakdown but Casey had grabbed her by the wrist. “Later. We are going to talk.”

Ellia wrenched her arm away. “Fine. We can start with your basic lack of manners and move on to the general social etiquette that comes with living in a stranger’s home, for free I might add.” With that, Ellia retreated to the library.

 

“You have so many books.” Edward said, pacing around the library, eyeing the shelves with fascination.

“Don’t be misled. I find reading to be quite dull. I much prefer drawing.” Ellia replied. He looked at her curiously as he spotted a small pile of well read books on the table by the window seat.

He picked them up and frowned. “Sheridan Le Fanu? This is hardly befitting reading for a lady.”

Ellia did her best to maintain a smile. “Those actually belong to a friend of mine. She visited and left her books.”

Edward resumed his pacing. Ellia took a deep breath. So far he had been the best of her suitors. Granted, they had only been talking for twenty minutes. Ellia brought her cup to her lips for something to do.

“So your mother wishes us to marry.” Edward began plainly. Ellia nearly choked on her tea.

“Yes.” Ellia replied. Edward’s pacing grew more frantic before he abruptly sat in the chair opposite her.

“Miss Grantham, it is true that I am in want of a wife and my mother appears to be enforcing this on myself as heavily as your mother on you. However, I would prefer to do this on our own terms. May I have your permission to court you? For a month? At the end we can announce our engagement or end this.”

Ellia considered the man across from her. He seemed earnest, if a tad uncomfortable. Ellia could tell he was sincerely asking for her permission, but something seemed off. Hidden, almost. She remembered everything her mother had said to her about marriage. Edward seemed a kind enough gentleman, and if this went well it might just keep her mother at bay. All that aside, he was the first potential suitor who had ever asked her permission, not her father’s. She took another sip of tea. “You may.”

He smiled slightly, clearly relieved, but his smile fell as quickly as it appeared. “Thank you.”

 

Ellia browsed the dust covered shelves and yellowing papers of the library. Her fingers brushed over the leather bindings as she admired the gold lettering that decorated the spines. When she arrived at the window table she ghosted her fingers over the small stack of books, firmly enough to remove the layer of dust that coated them but delicately enough to avoid potentially damaging the old paperback. As the very tips of her fingers traced the title, she felt a touch, like fingertips meeting her own. Freezing cold and briefly shocking but once the jolt faded she felt oddly comforted. She kept her fingers there for a few more seconds before walking out, locking the door behind her.

Ellia grabbed her gloves, coat and hat from beside the door. Pulling them on she headed out the front door, locking it behind her, and when she was sure she had walked far enough to be out of view of the house she circled back around the perimeter. The weather prevented the garden from looking anything like its former glory, and the bare branches and frozen earth did little to hide the remains of the bench from the house, so Ellia sat behind what was left and rested her head against the ancient wood, content to just sit in perfect silence with just her memories for company.

She placed the library key in her breast pocket, just over her heart.


End file.
